Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Educational Psychology--In Person

EDUC 2200-05

Course: EDUC 2200-05
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: TED
CRN: 30438

Course Description

Educational Psychology is designed to give student’s knowledge and skills designed to meet the needs of diverse student populations in the general education classroom. This course focuses on theories related to learning, motivation, memory and more and how to apply those theories in the classroom. This course specifically explores trauma that students may experience and how educators can support students in trauma.

Required Texts

There are no required or recommended textbooks for this course. All materials will be provided in Canvas.

Learning Outcomes


By the end of this course, you will be able to: (UETS)

  1. Standard 1.1: Creates developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences based on each learner’s strengths, interests, and needs.
  2. Standard 3.1: Develops learning experiences that engage and support students as self-directed learners who internalize classroom routines, expectations, and procedures.
  3. Standard 3.3: Utilizes positive classroom management strategies, including the resources of time, space, and attention, effectively.

  4. Standard 6.1: Demonstrates knowledge of the Utah Core Standards and references them in short- and long-term planning

  5. Standard 7.1: Practices a range of developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate instructional strategies to meet the needs of individuals and groups of learners

  6. Standard 7.2: Provides multiple opportunities for students to develop higher-order and meta- cognitive skills
  7. Standard 7.4: Uses a variety of effective technology and resources to support learning
  8. Standard 8.1: Adapts and improves practice based on reflection and new learning.
  9. Learning Goals:
    • creating effective learning environments by establishing and implementing routines and procedures with consistent expectations
    • skills in implementing personalized learning practices that consider the whole child, including:
    • (i) trauma-informed instructional practices; and
    • (ii) restorative instructional practices
    • knowledge and skills designed to meet the needs of diverse student populations in the general education classroom, including:
      • (i) allowing students multiple ways to demonstrate learning that are sensitive to student diversity;
      • (ii) creating an environment using a teaching model that is sensitive to multiple experiences and diversity;
      • (iii) designing, adapting, and delivering instruction to address each student’s diverse learning strengths and needs; and
      • (iv) incorporating tools of language development into planning, instruction, and intervention for students learning English and supporting development of English proficiency
    • Explain how students develop personally, intellectually, socially, & morally.
    • demonstrate understanding of diverse learning styles and the needs of all students and how teachers need to work to meet those specific student needs.
    • describe the major learning theories including behavioral, humanistic, socio-cognitive, cognitive, and constructivist.
    • Learn to integrate technology to support and meaningfully supplement the learning of students, including the effective use of software for personalized learning
    • Participate actively in decision- making processes, while building a shared culture that affects the school and larger educational community
    • Describe meta-cognitive teaching techniques that enhance student learning.
    • Describe the major theories of motivation and the impact that learners, teachers, instruction, and the environment have on motivation.
    • Learn to Advocate for the learners, the school, the community, and the profession
    • develop a cohesive unit plan and provide commentary on the effectiveness of the lessons and how they illustrate theories studied.

Course Requirements


Student grades will be based on a total of 100(ish) points that can be earned during the semester. 

Assignment | Description | Total Points
Participation | In class activities, discussions, participation, attendance, and professionalism | 15
Weekly assignments (usually worth 1-2 points each) to assess your knowledge of the content | Discussion Board posts, short Canvas quizzes, reading responses, completion of online modules | 10
Teaching Philosophy | Initial and final philosophy (5 points initial, 10 points final) | 15
Application Assignments | Three assignments demonstrating application of content (5 points each) | 15
|  | 
ACE paper | This paper consists of three distinct parts. Part 1 (10 points), Part 2 (10 points) and the final paper with all three parts (20 points) | 40

Participation/In-class work


Your attendance is expected in this course. The instruction for this course will occur in person. 15% of your grade is based on your participation in class discussions and activities. It is expected that you have completed any readings or videos prior to coming to class. Please come to class prepared. 

Weekly Assignments


Weekly assignments act as formative assessment and they help me know what you are learning or getting out of the content, but they also help you know how well you are learning the content. These are usually short assignments (designed to take less than 30 minutes to complete). You can expect to have 10 of these in total, so less than one per week. These will be completed outside of class time. Weekly assignments will include:


1. Discussion Board posts: These posts give you a chance to interact with your classmates. Instructions will vary, so please be sure to read the directions carefully to ensure you have met the requirements. Discussion Board posts cannot be completed after the deadline.


2. Quizzes: Short quizzes (usually 10 questions or less) are designed to assess readings from the textbook.


3. Reading responses: Sometimes, rather than a discussion board post, I may have you submit a short response to the readings or topics from that week for me to read. 


4. Online modules: There are some great online modules and I will give you choices on these assignments. 

Teacher Philosophy:


Students will be required to develop a teaching philosophy that will include some of the theories discussed throughout the semester. Students will write an initial teaching philosophy and a final teaching philosophy, including a reflection on how their philosophy has grown and changed.

Application Activities:


Throughout the semester, you will complete three application activities. The application activities are graded on a rubric and can be presented in a number of different formats. 



ACE Paper:


Students will be required write a paper connecting ideas from the articles and videos in Canvas and information from interviews with current teachers. This paper will be scaffolded, as students will turn in part 1, part 2, and then the final paper. 


 

Course Outline

Course topics include:
Memory
Cognitive Frameworks
Writing Measurable Objectives
Gagne's 9 Events and Lesson Planning
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Bronfenbrenner
ACEs and Mental Health
Diversity and Equity
ACEs
Trauma-informed practices
Development
Behaviorism
Social Cognitive Theory
Motivation
Constructivism
Creativity and Complex Thinking
Lesson Planning
Preventing Teacher Burnout

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work


Late Policy: Students are expected to meet the outlined deadlines within the course. Keeping up with weekly assignments (due each Sunday by midnight) will help you be successful in the course. However, I understand and allow for flexibility with deadlines. I rarely close assignments, so you can always go back and complete missing work. I will accept late with with no penalties up to two weeks past the deadline. After two weeks, I will deduct points for lateness. There are a few exceptions:

  • Discussions are an important way to interact and build a sense of community. Please complete in a timely manner so others are able to benefit from your insights.  If you don't show up to the "party" on time, there is no one to have a conversation with... so I would recommend starting the discussion FIRST, early in the week before other work in class. Your interactions with classmates should broaden your thinking and add to your responses on your assignments. Discussion Boards will be closed 1 week after the deadline, so please complete these on time.
  • I cannot accept late work after the end of the course. All assignments are due by the end of the day on the last day of the course. 
  • ACE Paper: This paper accounts for 40% of your grade. This assignment is scaffolded, which means you turn it in in parts. This allows me to provide you with feedback so you can improve before submitting the entire paper. If you miss the deadline turning these parts in, it may mean that you miss out on my feedback or do not have time to utilize the feedback.
  • If you are struggling to turn in assignments, please communicate with me so that we can work out a plan to get you on track. 

Attendance Policy

Attendance: Students are expected to attend class. Attendance is essential so you are able to interact and collaborate with me and others in the class. Attendance is a part of the course grade. Students who miss more than 10% of course meetings may have a grade deduction. Students should be spending a minimum of three hours a week in the Canvas course completing the readings, watching videos, and completing other coursework.

Course Fees

There are no course fees associated with this class.
This course has no practicum.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.